<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The calming of the storm by ONeillwith2ls</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23268838">The calming of the storm</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ONeillwith2ls/pseuds/ONeillwith2ls'>ONeillwith2ls</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Episode tags [30]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Stargate SG-1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Episode: s09e13 Ripple Effect, F/M, Gen, Reference to episode frozen, reference to Martouf/Lantash, reference to Pete Shanahan, reference to episode Abyss, reference to episode In the line of duty</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-03-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:34:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,332</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23268838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ONeillwith2ls/pseuds/ONeillwith2ls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After Marty leaves--Sam realises she made a huge mistake and feels guilty about it.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Samantha "Sam" Carter/Jack O'Neill</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Episode tags [30]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1652002</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>72</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The calming of the storm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>All characters are not mine they belong to the folks at Stargate!</p><p>So in my mind Sam and Jack got together at the end of Threads (I am writing one for Threads it just these are not being written in order of being shown on the TV so I'm just adding them as I go!) , they did its just a fact in my mind and I think they are married by Ripple effect. So this is dealing with that---</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I cheated on you!” Sam said standing on his porch at one thirty in the morning.</p><p>Jack scratched the front of his hair and rubbed his eye at the same time trying to adjust to the fact that his wife was standing in front of him, had rang his doorbell and had made it half way across the country at one thirty in the morning. “What?” he asked genuinely confused, dropping the hand which had been at his face moments ago.</p><p>“With Martouf.” She said a slight panic in her voice he saw the way her body wouldn’t stay still her legs creating its own little dance. “I cheated on you and I’m a horrible horrible person.”</p><p>Jack huffed slightly but he gently held her by her arms and guided her inside his house and closed the door behind them. “Use your key for Christ’s sake, not the doorbell.” He muttered his head pounding from the sound which had woke him abruptly.</p><p>“I don’t deserve to be married to you, God I mean! After all that time of waiting and fighting for us and after everything with Pete, I cheat on you! I don’t deserve you, just tell me where you want me to sign and I will, its only fitting after all that you divorce me, I never deserved you in the first place, god I’m awful!” she exclaimed again. She was saying this as he guided her through his house to the living room.</p><p>He calls it his house only because he’s the one most in it between the two of them. It’s theirs really. She doesn’t even bring luggage with her because their house is like any other married couples, she has clothes and books and belongings there. The pictures adorning their fireplace is pictures of SG1 and them.</p><p>He sits his wife next to him and calmly states. “How did you cheat on me with Marty?” he asks.</p><p>“Oh,” she said quietly “Damn you won’t have gotten the full report yet from the SGC.”</p><p>“Can’t say I have since it only ended...” he looked at the clock on the mantel piece his eyes still adjusting to being awake “Sam did you jump on the first flight here?” he asked her.</p><p>“Yes.” She confirmed.</p><p>“To divorce me?” he asked her.</p><p>“I don’t want to!” She clarified “Its just I don’t deserve your forgiveness.”</p><p>He took a deep sigh and held her hands “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that.” He said calmly.</p><p>Sam took a deep breath “You know that there were several version of SG1 in the SGC today?” she asked him.</p><p>“Quite a few Sam Carter’s there from what Landry told me, lucky dog having that many Sam’s all at once.”</p><p>“And you know one of them had an alternative Doctor Fraser?” she asked him.</p><p>“Doc was there?” he gasped.</p><p>“Yeah.” She smiled sadly, “see it wasn’t just Janet who was on that SG1 team. Martouf was there too.”</p><p>“Marty?” Jack said wondering where this was going.</p><p>“So we got to talking and it turns out he wasn’t the Za’tarc he lived.” Sam paused before continuing “Him and his Sam got together, he came and worked at the SGC, they lived together, but then she broke it off a little while ago.” She took a deep breath to steady herself. “See he was telling me this in the lab and we—” she looked up afraid of what she might find in his eyes but he was deliberately being unreadable. “—almost kissed.” She gasped and then broke into tears. In a panic she added “then when he was gone and I realised what I’d almost done, what I did and I’m horrible!”</p><p>Jack paused for a second taking in the words before he attempted to put his arm around her.</p><p>“No!” She objected which made him pause for a second “No I don’t deserve your compassion.” She objected. “Don’t you get it? I almost kissed another man which means in my head I already was cheating! I’m horrible!”</p><p>Jack did put his arm around her and let her cry into him for a good few minutes before he whispered “You know, you’re married to the one man on this planet whose been a host too.” He reminded her. “So I’m maybe the only man who can follow this.” He told her. “Sam—” he continued quietly “--do you remember when I was joined? Kanan came across this concept of not leaving anyone behind, do you know what it did to him?” he asked her, she looked to Jack confused and shook her head. “It became so ingrained in him that he had to go back, he had to go back for Shallan.” He took a deep sigh while Sam looked to him amazed. She couldn’t remember him ever talking about what happened with Kanan, there was the debrief there was his report, but he never actually talked about it. “That concept was truly only mine to start with but the nature of blending meant it became part of him too.” He said to Sam “And we both know this works in the opposite way too right? The Snake’s personality imprints on us too, parts of them are so much part of us, its hard to tell which one is Jack and which one is Kanan, he knew about you, you know, he saw the lengths I would go to for you, for the women I loved.” She nodded mutely. “I remember you struggled with it for quite some time what was you and what was Jolinar. Do you remember that?” he asked her. Again she nodded. “So is it any wonder that when Jolinar’s mate, Jolinar’s great love for one hundred years, comes waltzing back into the SGC years after you were forced to kill him, is it any wonder that Jolinar’s and your own emotions were stirred up for him?”</p><p>She looked at him amazed. “You’re not angry at me?” she asked him.</p><p>His lips upturned quickly at her question. “Am I angry that you <em>almost</em> kissed a man, the Tok’ra who lived inside of you loved for over a hundred years?” he was finally able to place his hands on her cheeks and stroke her there. “You came all the way home in the middle of the night because you felt so guilty about an almost kiss with someone you have memory of loving for so long?” he asked. “Am I jealous?” he said a smile appearing at his lips “Sure, a little.” He said with a little shrug “but I was there the day our Marty died and Sam I liked him and his snake, he was a good man and didn’t deserve to die like that,” He reminded her “and your feelings were and clearly still are incredibly complex and I think it always will be.” He sighed “Were those feelings yours or Jolinar?” he asked.</p><p>“I-I—” she stuttered “I’m not sure. I’ve never been sure with Martouf.”</p><p>“And you know what?” he said to her “that’s okay too. Its no wonder the other Sam might have ended up with him.” He admitted. “You had to close that chapter in such a horrible way before, now at least you have something which was a bit more of a peaceful goodbye yes?”</p><p>“Yes.” She agreed. She looked at him amazed before she crashed her mouth into his and kissed him deeply. “I’m so sorry.” She whispered when they came up for air.  </p><p>“Sam, do you love me?” he asked her.</p><p>“Yes!” she said immediately “God yes!” she added.</p><p>“Does Jolinar?” he asked her.</p><p>Sam shook her head “No, my feelings for you are definitely mine.” She said for certain.</p><p>He grimaced “Gee, thanks.” He said sarcastically.</p><p>“No—” she said with a little chuckle “—thats not what I meant.”</p><p>He laughed and brought her in for another hug, “If you want me and I want you, there’s no confusion here. Kanan didn’t even know you Sam, my feelings are my own, and your feelings are your own and I love you and you love me, then that’s what I need.” He said quietly before he kissed her gently again. “Got it?” he asked her.</p><p>“I do,” she said with a quick nod, “want you, love you, need this.” She said quietly “I really thought you’d be mad.” She added before she hugged into him.</p><p>He shrugged and settled them both back into the sofa bringing her in closer. “I worked out many moons ago that being in a relationship with you would never be ‘normal’,” he said a smile played at his lips “I mean what other man knows there’s a possibility that an alternative version of my wife’s symbiont’s mate might just show up one day. How do you prepare for it?” he said a grin playing on his lips as he closed his eyes “but when real is real and feelings are feelings, Sam you almost kissed him, you didn’t—”</p><p>“Pete would have gone wild over this.”  She said shaking her head.</p><p>“Did he know about Jolinar?” he asked her.</p><p>“No.” She admitted and he almost laughed “Yeah, that would have been—I don’t think I would have even told him.” She said with a shiver. “I’m sorry.” She said again.</p><p>He kissed into her hair “Believe me if anyone gets this—” he chuckles “its me.” He took a deep breath then whispered “Still want that divorce?” he asked her.</p><p>“No.” She murmured quietly.</p><p>“Good, neither do I.” He whispered. “Its going to take a while for you to get back into the swing of things love.” He acknowledges. “Its complex, but know this,” he said making sure they had eye contact “You didn’t cheat, I’m not angry and I love you for all that you are, even the Jolinar bit of you which still loves Marty, it shows she knew loyalty and love, and to be fair out of all the Tok’ra out there, Marty was a pretty good one.”</p><p>“I love you Jack.” She said equally as quiet.</p><p>“I love you too Carter.” He said cradling her head and kissing her there again. “Come on then, to bed.” He said to her. “You need to sleep you always get jumpy when you’ve had no sleep.” He accuses her.</p><p>As they walk towards their bedroom she starts to feel the knot she had in her stomach untie she leaned more into her husband.</p><p>He feels what she’s doing and whispers “I liked Selmak too.” He added which made her laugh.<br/>
“Yeah me too.” She agreed.</p><p>“Dad was a little stubborn mind.” He joked which made her laugh. “Is that where you get it from?” he teased her which made her smile again. “How long you on down time?” he asked her.</p><p>“Just until Wednesday, I’m due back at the mountain at fourteen hundred hours.” She told him as they entered the bedroom. She smiled as she saw he had been sleeping in the middle of the bed. She loved it that he did, that she could very easily weave herself around him in the night, that he was quite so close for a cuddle.</p><p>“I’ll be sure to get a flight from airbase to the mountain for you.” He said lazily crawling back into bed.</p><p>“I can fly commercial you know?” she told him. She went into her draws and found herself a silk chemise and matching shorts, they were a dusty pink with black polka dots. She quickly changed into them.</p><p>“Do that and you’ll be getting the red-eye, this way is quicker, you can leave at nine here and arrive by thirteen hundred at the mountain. You’ll be better rested and ready for gate travel.”</p><p>“And the cost to the tax payer?” she asked him.</p><p>“You are on the front line defense of this world Lieutenant Colonel Carter, I need my best out there, and you are my best.” He shrugged as she joined him in bed, his favourite sleeping position with her was this one, her long body stretched down his side her lying towards him her nose snuggled just beside his chest close to his armpit, as his arm supported her neck, one of her long silky legs came over one leg and her foot tucked under the other. “And you know there’s at least half a dozen mission reports Danny requested from storage, you can be sure it gets to the mountain.”</p><p>“Okay,” she conceded, “that makes me feel a little better.”  She brought herself even closer to her husband in the few seconds it took for him to fall back to sleep.</p><p>She marveled again at the man she was sharing her life with. Jack O’Neill was consistently a source of strength in her life, how he loves and understands her, she sometimes thinks she’s worked him out only for him to surprise her.</p><p>He was of course, completely right, and to think people didn’t think feelings were Jack’s department! It shouldn’t have surprised her, his reaction because he knew. The Stargate even made their personal lives complicated, she thought with a heavy sigh, but Jack, Jack appreciated the simple in life and sought to make things less complicated. Her feelings for Martouf would always be complicated and she would never quite feel as though they were her own.</p><p>“I can hear you thinking Carter.” He complained suddenly. She looked up at her husband and smiled softly.</p><p>But strip back the layers and it came down to this. That she loved Jack and he loved her.  “I’m so lucky to have you.” She sighed contently.</p><p>Without missing a beat he replied “Yes you are.” A smile formed at her lips. “Now go to sleep.”</p><p>Her eyes heavy her heart lifted as she started to doze she heard him whisper “Not as lucky as I am to have you Sam.” With a soft kiss in her hair she fell asleep in a safe and wonderful slumber.</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>